Vanilla beans ahoy!

Why 'ello there! (I'm trying out my british accent..)

Today we had our last theory class! yippie! I got my chocolate test back and I got 100%. Very excited about that! :)

 Today we learned about starches, salt and flavourings and such. Cornstarch is only so interesting..blah blah blah. Salt was quite interesting. We learned what is in it and how its made. Table salt is, to say the least, is horrible for you. They add so much crap to it - its unbelievable. Kosher or sea salt is the way to go. Those are the main salts davin and I use. It has a lot of natural vitamins and minerals in it. It's most definitely the way to go.

 What really peaked my interest was when we learned about vanilla. I absolutely love real vanilla. Cutting open a real vanilla bean is just so amazing. Forget perfume I'm going to rub vanilla bean on me every morning ;)

 Jean-Luc showed us some short videos on it that opened my eyes. I'm a big supporter of buying local as well as supporting fair trade. One thing I want to ask my readers to do is to read the labels when you buy a thing of vanilla. Is it 100%? most of them are not, they claim to be..but they aren't. Companies can put that it is "pure vanilla" as long as it has a certain percentage. It's a low percentage I think it was something along the line of 30% and under.

 I use to never think twice about my vanilla when I bought it..vanilla was vanilla, right? Then Jean-Luc showed us a video (that I'm going to post) that really opened my eyes to how our buying, and how our lack of knowledge about what we are buying are affecting those who lives depend on harvesting and selling the product.

 So all I ask is that if you have the time, to watch this video and if money allows to buy only pure vanilla. It's something simple that can make a big difference to people in the other parts of the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PoIgYMxnCQ

 This is the link to the more serious business about vanilla. A great watch.

The link below is how its grown and harvested. Its a cute little video with great music that makes you want to dance and move to tahiti.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjV_RVLP3Mo

ENJOY!

..I'm adding "go to tahiti and get vanilla beans" to my bucket list.

We learned lots today. It was fun.

 Then we had communications. We are going to be doing presentations on food. I just need to find something to present on, a style of presentation and a bunch of other fun things.

 I am also pleased to announce that I made it through computer class without snapping my pen. That is a successful day folks. It was a simple conversion and math thing. Hopefully I passed. Don't see why I wouldn't.

 I must get back to doing my recipes. We had salesmen from east link in the apartment for an hour, we will be switching and saving some money. More money to buy vanilla beans!

Have a lovely evening!